


Bonded

by DopamineX



Series: You & Me, We’re Soulmates! [7]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: M/M, On Hiatus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22462297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DopamineX/pseuds/DopamineX
Summary: Though Hyunwoo is the leader of his pack, the rightful Alpha by birth, and came of age to Imprint five years ago, he still hasn’t found his Imprint.He is the oldest of the pack, aged twenty, and many younger than him have already Imprinted on their respective destined humans. Or werewolves.While Hyunwoo is staying still and stuck like a petrified leaf, ready for fossilisation.Then enters Chae Hyungwon, with his dazzling smile and mesmerising beauty.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Son Hyunwoo | Shownu, Im Changkyun | I.M/Yoo Kihyun
Series: You & Me, We’re Soulmates! [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1229333
Comments: 17
Kudos: 29





	1. Going All In

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my baby [Showhyuk4eva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Showhyuk4eva) for beta-ing ch1 & 2 of this fic!

“You know, Hoseok.. Imprinting can be such a bitch sometimes…” Hyunwoo sighed heavily as he leaned forward on the wooden fence that ran along the lake, where he and his brothers often spent time swimming. 

The sun was setting slowly, painting the sky with shades of red, yellow, orange and pink. Small gray clouds hovered near the sinking golden ball of fire as Hyunwoo and Hoseok gazed enraptured at the fascinating view of the evening sky. 

“Why are you talking about this out of the blue…?” Hoseok murmured as he threw one of the few pebbles he had in his palm onto the calm surface of the lake. They watched as the pebble broke the surface, disturbing its peace by causing ripples, as the stone bounced before sinking into the lake.

“It’s not out of the blue, Hoseok. You just returned an hour ago.. But what I’m about to tell you happened just this morning..” Hyunwoo sighed again as he too picked up a pebble from Hoseok’s palm and flung it onto the lake’s surface. The pebble jumped five times, denting the calmness of the water again, before travelling its way to the bottom.

Hyunwoo’s cousin turned around to look at him. He smiled at the older proudly for the number of bounces his pebble had managed, but his smile died down when he saw his brother’s solemn expression.

“What is it, Hyunwoo?” Hoseok placed his palm on Hyunwoo's shoulder in comfort, trying to remove the slight furrow from between his eyebrows.

The older gave him a tight-lipped smile, his lips pursing soon after. “Our Kyunie. He imprinted on Jooheon’s cousin today morning…”

“Oh…” Hoseok cast his eyes down, fiddling with the pebbles in his hands.

“And it happened _right_ in front of Jooheon.. We were all there at that time. One of the usual pack meetings, you know.” Hoseok looked like he wanted to say something but Hyunwoo waved his hand dismissively, “Nothing important. It didn’t even happen after Kyunie imprinted on.. Kihyun.. In fact, the guys went out to celebrate..” 

Hoseok’s face turned judgemental. 

Hyunwoo sighed, “It was.. _really_ hard to watch, seeing Jooheon try to be happy for Changkyun..”

“How.. bad was it? What happened?” The younger squeezed one eye shut, as if bracing himself from the impact Hyunwoo’s next words might cause.

“He.. uh.. fell to his knees, right at Kihyun’s feet, and looked at him like he was his whole world- his whole universe- and Kihyun had been struck speechless as they stared into each other’s eyes.” Hyunwoo inhaled deeply and then met Hoseok’s eyes, his expression even more serious than before. “Jooheon had been standing _right_ next to Kihyun… he saw the whole thing..”

Hoseok inhaled sharply, his face contorting in shock.

“Oh God… I feel so bad.. Our Joo doesn't deserve this..” Hoseok dropped the pebbles, which fell on the ground with a clatter, his eyes turned worried.

There was silence between them for a moment. Then, “The guys took them to _celebrate_?!” Hoseok cried, meeting Hyunwoo’s eyes again. He made the words sound disgusting; and he wasn’t wrong to do so.

“Yeah…" Hyunwoo sighed "you know it’s our tradition…”

“So, did Kihyun accept him?” 

“Yes.” Hyunwoo shrugged and turned to face the other side. He looked to their path back, as if dreading his return from this escape. 

They started walking slowly from the lakeside, across the path which led to the road snaking around the high cliff they jumped off to dive into the lake.

“How could he not, when everybody had explained at the ‘party’ what Imprinting means to a werewolf. It was _so hard_ to watch Jooheon try to be happy for them… Needless to say, Kyun and Joo have broken up now..”

“Oh God.” Hoseok repeated, as he covered his face with his hand. “You’re right. Imprinting _is_ a bitch! Ah! They’d been dating for _so long,_ Hyunwoo! I can’t even begin to understand how Jooheon feels right now..” He furrowed his eyebrows as he dropped his hand to his side.

Hyunwoo hummed as they crossed the small path, towards the road it led to, walking close to the mountain’s side. 

“Well, everybody thought that once Kyun would come of age, he’d Imprint on Jooheon. They’re both the same age after all, so everyone thought either of them would Imprint on the other. Like you know werewolf Imprinting on another werewolf is rare but not impossible; but they turned sixteen this year and nothing happened." Hyunwoo sighed again. 

"Instead, he Imprinted on Kihyun…” he said as an afterthought. 

“Hyunwoo, I feel _so_ bad. What can we do? …” Hoseok’s voice was full of distress as he stared at his feet. They trod on the curved path along the mountainside, back to their community in the Reservation. A heavy silence hung between them till Hyunwoo broke it. 

“Be there for him.” Hyunwoo kept his eyes trained ahead, his lips pursed.

“Ugh, It’s going to be terrible when he Shifts…” Hoseok shuddered as he imagined the angsty thoughts they’d hear from Jooheon when they ran the perimeter together as a pack. 

“It’s inevitable. He can’t _not_ Shift. He loves that. The thrill, the strength, the power-“

“The _extremely_ slow aging process that comes with frequent Shifting..” Hoseok snorted, a small smile lifting the corner of his lips.

“Yeah. Definitely that. But you’re right, this is going to be torture for _a while_.”

They both sighed collectively, gazing ahead as their community came into view.

  
  
  
  


Though Hyunwoo was the leader of the pack, the rightful Alpha by birth, and had come of age to Imprint five years ago when he’d turned fifteen, he _still_ hadn’t found his Imprint. 

He was the oldest of the pack, aged twenty, and many younger than him had already Imprinted on their respective destined humans. Or werewolves.

But Hyunwoo was staying still and stuck like a petrified leaf, ready for fossilisation.

He had only heard through many others what it felt like to Imprint on someone.

They said he’d be whoever that person wanted, needed; his whole universe would revolve around loving and protecting that person. He’d never look at anyone else apart from them, and if your Imprint didn’t accept you, you’d go through the darkest pits of depression and sorrow. It would feel like your heart had been ripped out from your chest, its hollowed space left to bleed.

They'd had a cousin who had been the same age as Hyunwoo, who'd killed himself as a consequence of drowning in his anguish and grief for a _whole year_ , after his Imprint had rejected him.

Hyunwoo hoped and prayed that he’d find his Imprint soon _and_ that whoever they’d be, wouldn’t reject him outright. 

Their cousin’s Imprint had been a straight guy, who had found the whole concept unbelievable and quite unappealing at that, though the werewolves would be _anything_ the Imprint wanted them to be, they were mainly _meant to be_ the Imprint’s better half, his lover, his protector, his world.

The concept itself had really disgusted the guy, who’d already had a fiancée. 

He'd married her a year later, leading to their cousin hanging himself.

Hyunwoo squeezed his eyes shut at the terrible memory of discovering his body, suspended from the ceiling of his room. His parents still hadn’t recovered, shutting themselves out from the outside world.

  
  


He made his way to the repair garage he ran to pay for his college expenses. He was currently enjoying summer break, at the end of which he’d enter third year. Once college started he couldn't stay back to lead the pack like he was meant to. 

Hoseok, despite being the oldest beta of their pack couldn't take up the responsibility either, as he too was away at university, the same one as Hyunwoo - different department but in the same campus, for almost the entire year like the Alpha. The pack, as a consequence, was run by some of the high-school-going-betas while Hyunwoo was at college. 

Speaking of Hoseok, Hyunwoo furrowed his eyebrows as he remembered that his cousin had told him he’d bring someone over- his college best friend that he wanted Hyunwoo to meet as he felt they’d really ‘hit it off’. 

The younger mainly meant hit off as friends, but Hyunwoo had been able to see the hope in his favourite cousin’s eyes, hope they’d become something more.

He didn’t know _why_ Hoseok was _so_ eager to set him up with someone. Especially when Hyunwoo had _strictly_ told him he wouldn’t date _anyone_ before his Imprint, no matter how much time it took him to find The One (the person he’d apparently die for and be and do _anything_ for, just to get them to keep him by their side) and hopefully they’d fall in love with him too.

He had gotten stricter with his policy after seeing what had happened to the childhood sweethearts, Changkyun and Jooheon, at the end of last month.

But Hoseok had _insisted_ that he meet with this person. 

He’d found it _very odd_ , still did, that Hoseok wanted _his_ friend to become Hyunwoo’s friend, considering Hoseok’s extreme possessiveness of his friends in general. Hell, he was extremely possessive of Hyunwoo as well, though the older found it extremely ridiculous. They were literally blood relatives but Hoseok sometimes acted as if he had some ‘wolfie claim’ - as his tiny cousins (the future-betas and omegas of his pack) had dubbed it - on Hyunwoo, getting jealous when he hung out more with his other cousins and friends than with Hoseok himself.

Which is why he concluded that Hoseok was trying to set them up.

He sighed in resignation as he crouched down next to the mini truck that he’d received in the garage the day before. He slid the tool box over and picked up a spanner to start working. 

Just as he had laid down flat and was about to slide underneath the mini truck to see what had it malfunctioning, as opening the bonnet had led to peanuts, he saw two long shadows walking up to the garage.

He slid forward and sat up, dusting his hands as the two figures took a few steps inside, their faces hidden in the shadows. The taller of the two had a cap on, further keeping his eyes in the dark.

Out of nowhere, Hyunwoo felt a sort of “pull” towards the taller of those two people now standing at the entrance. 

He brushed it off and stood up, again dusting his hands, this time on his blue jeans. 

It was a brightly smiling Hoseok, wearing one of his standard tight black t-shirts that showed off his sculpted body and a guy as tall as Hyunwoo, beside him, who was standing a little behind Hoseok.

The pull got stronger as the guy and Hoseok walked further inside. 

Hyunwoo felt the need to see the guy’s face properly, without the cap’s long brim obstructing his eyes. He had no idea _why_ he cared so much about it, but he desperately wanted to look into the other's eyes. The guy took two steps forward, now standing next to Hoseok, his face still half hidden in shadows thanks to the late afternoon light falling on them from behind. 

  
  


“Hyunwoo! My man!” Hoseok patted his back and pulled him into a hug, but Hyunwoo’s attention was still fixed on the nameless guy, who was _yet_ to remove that long-brimmed cap. (Cap that Hyunwoo wanted to remove from his head and throw to the floor.) Hyunwoo hugged Hoseok back half heartedly. 

Hoseok pulled back to see that Hyunwoo looked rather distracted as he regarded the third male in the room, instead of his own cousin.

“This is my best friend, the one I wanted you to meet! He is literally so much like you, you know! I’m sure you’ll hit it off perfectly!” He grinned and Hyunwoo finally averted his gaze to furrow his eyebrows at his cousin. Who then winked suggestively.

_What the hell…_

Hyunwoo cocked an eyebrow up, silently asking Hoseok whether his wink meant what Hyunwoo thought it meant or not.

Hoseok nodded quickly and subtly, and gave his hand a squeeze in assurance.

 _‘Ah, so his friend_ does _like guys! No wonder he wants to introduce us to each other.. but.. I don’t get it.. Where is the usual possessive and selfish Hoseok?’_

They heard a throat being cleared and Hyunwoo glanced at the stranger whose sexuality he’d just confirmed. 

A sudden sense of longing hit him like a freight train and he had to physically restrain himself from closing the distance between them by gritting his teeth.

The guy removed his cap and ran a hand through his dyed blond hair which had been flattened due to the cap, his eyes cast down.

Hyunwoo felt like he was being pulled _hard_ towards the guy, such a strong pull that all his muscles and bones _yearned_ to get as close as possible to the blond stranger, who was actually rather attractive. 

He stood his ground though, stopping his feet from moving on their own. 

Hyunwoo was surprised at the amount of physical effort it took to control his _own_ limbs!

_And then,_ the guy looked up and met his eyes, a dazzling smile playing on his plush baby pink lips.

“Hi. I’m Chae Hyungwon. Nice to meet you,” he spoke in a deep almost-melodious voice.

Hyunwoo’s eyes widened as he felt the ground slide from beneath his feet. For a fraction of a second he felt like he was going to fall, and for another fraction he wondered whether the young man’s ethereal features were going to make him pass out.

But the next thing he knew he was on his knees, right at the feet of the gorgeous stranger, gazing up at the literal angel towering over him due to his current position.

As the angel, Chae Hyungwon, gazed down at him in puzzlement, his head tilted cutely to one side as he pouted slightly, Hyunwoo felt as if all his ties to _everyone_ in the world had been snipped off clean in that moment. Nobody mattered.

Not his pack, the pack he was _the Alpha_ of. Not his parents. Not friends. Not his cousins.

_Nobody._

Nobody _but_ the angel right in front of him, who looked conflicted about what he wanted to do next.

He was the most gorgeous person Hyunwoo had _ever_ laid eyes on. None of his exes mattered or existed. His past crushes and their names and the experiences attached to said-names got completely erased from his brain at that moment. _Every single human_ he had _ever_ seen _paled_ in comparison to this gorgeous angel.

Nobody existed but this beautifully sculpted literal god in front of him. Everybody else in Hyunwoo’s life, past, present, hell, _even future,_ stopped mattering. 

If he could, he’d move mountains and shake up the very core of the earth for this person who suddenly became his whole universe for the rest of his life. And then forever.

The way he felt had Hyunwoo frozen in his mind. He couldn’t believe some random stranger, albeit so stunning and fetching - yeah, all the words that meant ‘beautiful’ weren’t enough to describe his sheer beauty - could have him feeling emotions he’d _never_ felt before in his whole entire twenty years on this planet.

Hyunwoo gazed up at his human, his everything, his whole world, the sun to his solar system, Chae Hyungwon, in complete awe, his eyes shining with respect and sincerity.. and _love and affection_ of the _highest_ accord. 

His mind unfroze and as if on autopilot, he gently lifted one of the angel’s hands and brought it to his lips. He glanced up and met Hyungwon’s eyes.

_Chae Hyungwon_. 

The name circled in his mind over and over as he felt himself get lost in those light brown eyes which regarded him with confusion and curiosity. 

He kissed the back of the angel’s hand softly and then lifted the hand higher up and touched the back of the angel’s palm to both his eyelids one by one, before lightly placing his forehead on the smooth surface just above the angel’s knuckles. 

He had finally found the purpose of his existence.

He had finally... _Imprinted._

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Somewhat (Already!) Rolling In The Deep End

When the Alpha of a pack Imprinted on his mate-to-be, it was _the most_ celebrated occasion in the history of the pack and its members.

Hyunwoo had become Alpha of the only pack in their Quileute tribe’s reservation at the age of eighteen. That was two years ago. 

Everyone in their community had been waiting rather _impatiently_ for Hyunwoo to finally find his mate. 

Whatever mystical forces were at work there, somehow made the Alpha’s pack stronger, more united and powerful when the Alpha Imprinted, in indescribable and indiscernible ways. 

The pack members’ love for and sense of loyalty towards each other and the pack as a whole increased exponentially.

Hyunwoo had _no idea why_ that happened. But it did. The effect of his Imprinting was almost immediate.

Such a significant moment was obviously celebrated in a grand way, in a large ceremony, where every werewolf in the pack would take the Pledge of Allegiance to his pack and its members, especially the Alpha and would also take an oath to protect the Alpha’s mate with their life.

Honestly, Hyunwoo didn’t want anyone giving their life for him or his mate or his pack but.. it was how it was, considering he’d taken the same Pledge of Allegiance and had vowed to protect every pack member, even if his life would be on line, when he’d become Alpha two years ago.

  
  
  


As soon as Hyunwoo Imprinted on Hyungwon, he heard howls from the nearby forests. Howls of.. _joy._ And apparently, _exhilaration_ , from the legends he’d heard. 

Him Imprinting apparently brought extreme happiness to his whole pack.

It was evident when he’d turned his head around, still kneeling in front of his angel, to see Hoseok look overjoyed and ready to squeal in excitement.

Excitement for… Hyunwoo.

It made absolutely no sense _why_ his cousins, distant ones that too, though part of his large pack, would get happy to _this extent_.. just because he found his mate..

He furrowed his eyebrows at how bizarre it was and shifted back on his knees and stood up. He still held the angel’s hand delicately in both of his own.

His gaze lifted up and was aimed at his human in utter and complete fondness and love.

Hyungwon looked adorable as he pouted, big soulful eyes blinking at him in bewilderment. As soon as their eyes met, he gave him a small, uncertain yet _seriously cute_ smile.

Hyunwoo wanted to wrap this precious boy in his arms tightly and protect him with his very soul but he stuck to just lifting the angel’s hand to his lips once again and kissing it gently as he maintained eye contact.

Hyungwon gasped softly as his eyes widened phenomenally and Hyunwoo wondered just what the other had felt when Hyunwoo’s lips met the smooth skin of the back of his hand.

He flashed his most reassuring smile before gently lowering his hands. One of his hands dropped back to his side while the other tangled with his angel’s. It felt comparatively cold in his (just like how humans’ skin felt to werewolves, as werewolves’ body temperature was a few degrees higher) yet it was warm and the skin-on-skin contact had Hyunwoo’s toes curling in pure delight.

He wanted to scream and shout to the world that this gorgeous human next to him was his mate, _his_ mate! The bubbling happiness in his chest was beginning to get kinda uncontrollable but he _could_ contain it. 

Hyungwon tilted his head to one side as to stare at their joint hands, his bottom lip jutting out as if he was deeply contemplating something.

Hyunwoo hoped against hope that it wasn’t regarding rejecting him… he didn’t know if he was strong enough to bear that, would _ever_ be strong enough. 

Hoseok finally squealed really loudly, like he looked like he was going to for the past minute or so. Their heads whipped up to regard Hoseok in alarm.

Hyunwoo’s cousin squealed again and rushed forward to envelope the two of them in a tight group hug.

“I’m so happy for you, Hyunwoo! 

You finally _Imprinted!_ ”

He said, crushing them. 

  
  


_______

  
  


_Imprinted? What the hell?_

Hyungwon eyebrows furrowed as his eyes widened. _What does Imprinted mean?!_

He heard more.. of those _sounds_ \- howls, was it? - from the nearby forests and it was starting to creep him out. Those recent howls _definitely_ sounded animalistic unlike the previous ones, which were obviously from humans whooping and hooting way too loudly.

 _What the fuck was going on?_ Hyungwon shivered unconsciously due to the minor nerves he was feeling. Hoseok pulled back, grinning at both him and the incredibly cute guy standing next to him as if they were his kids and he were their proud mom. 

Hoseok’s closest cousin, Hyunwoo, smiled back at him with an equally wide grin, hand still loosely tangled with Hyungwon’s.

He’d almost forgotten about the fingers intertwined with his own till he got a squeeze from them, followed by warm tingles shooting down his spine and making his chest feel warm. Like it felt when your crush smiled at you or your boyfriend held your hand. Yeah...

“Hyungwon,” Hoseok directed his gaze to him as he patted their shoulders once and stepped back, letting Hyungwon breathe again.

"Hyunwoo is a great guy. I promise. He’ll take extremely good care of you! He’ll protect you with his everything! I swear on my life.”

Hyungwon shot his best friend a questioning look. What the hell? 

He had understood nothing that had happened. Except for some reason he’d felt an insane attraction towards the cutest guy he’d ever laid eyes on, who was somehow already holding hands with him, and he hadn’t done anything but tell him his name after removing his cap and meeting his sparkling chocolate brown eyes. 

Which was followed by the cute guy falling to his knees and looking at Hyungwon as if he were his entire world, which was insane because they’d _just_ met for the first time _ever?!_ And then he had proceeded to kiss his hand all knight-to-his-queen… and that had Hyungwon’s heart beating wildly in his chest. 

It hadn’t been just one kiss. Twice! The guy had kissed his hand twice…

And bloody he hadn’t said anything but his name?! _And_ that it was nice to meet the cutie...

What happened to subtly and taking it step by step….? This guy was so… _direct.._ Or something. Because it wasn’t like he had asked him out either.

Then Hoseok said the guy had _imprinted_ on him? Like it was a word beginning with a capital letter..

Yes, Hyungwon _had_ decided that he’d probably ask out the guy while he was in La Push after he’d laid eyes on him, because Hoseok had said he was ( _somehow_ ) single; but things were moving too fast for his brain to process and he was feeling faint.

Hoseok saw his scepticism and opened his mouth to answer. But before he could, they all heard loud cheers and whoops from the garage’s entryway.

Their heads whipped around at the commotion and if Hyungwon hadn’t been bewildered earlier, he definitely was at that moment.

About seven half naked guys came rushing into the garage all at once, each one screaming and congratulating their… _Alpha_ .. their.. _leader.. on Imprinting…_

Hyungwon felt like he was going insane, like he had finally lost it.

Had he fainted when the cutest guy he’d ever seen had suddenly fallen to his knees as if to propose to Hyungwon? Never had he imagined in his wildest dreams that something like _that_ would happen…

Hell, he’s thought his poor bisexual self would probably die single or with a girl.. but he wasn’t even _that_ into girls anymore! 

Hoseok immediately gave them space and stepped back even further.

Hyungwon wanted to cry in protest and pull him back but he felt another reassuring squeeze to his hand and it somehow calmed him down as a wave of warm energy went through his chest. 

He sneaked a peek at his side to see the adorable guy smile at him softly, like he was something precious to him. Hyungwon gulped visibly and flashed him a nervous watery smile.

He had no idea _why_ they kept holding hands.

Yes, it felt really nice and warm and it made butterflies fly in his stomach in a nice way… but wasn't it supposed to be weird?! And yet somehow it wasn’t?!

It somehow felt so.. _right?!_

  
  


Before he could formulate a question or voice out any of his concerns, the seven half-naked guys, who _only_ had on cargo pants and flip-flops, crowded into their space, and Hyungwon and the cute guy, Hyunwoo, were hoisted onto their shoulders.

Hyungwon’s eyes widened in panic as he searched the garage for Hoseok only to find him shouldering their weight as well.

“Seok, what’s going on?!” Hyungwon finally hissed out when his friend looked up and met his eyes.

“You’ll find out soon. Please just remember that Hyunwoo will love you forever and will be by your side always.”

Hyungwon looked at Hoseok as if he’d gone bonkers but his best friend just grinned and patted his knee.

Their intertwined hands separated and suddenly a wave of disappointment went through Hyungwon. 

He glanced next to him to see Hyunwoo shoot him a sheepish tight-lipped smile that made his chubby cheeks pop up, and suddenly Hyungwon couldn't care less about the strangeness of all things around him.

He didn’t care about the weird half-naked hooting guys who were by now steadily chanting Hyunwoo’s name as if he were the victor in The Hunger Games; he didn’t care that he understood nothing.

Because that smile was the most adorable and sweetest thing he’d ever seen. So he decided to just stare into the older’s chocolate brown eyes, and he drowned in their depths immediately.

And it stopped mattering that he’d _just_ met the guy.

God, was he _falling in love?!_

  
  
  
  


The seven half-naked men and Hoseok had carried the two of them all the way to the quadrangle of sorts of the Quileute Reservation, which was at the center of their community’s residential area.

Hyungwon gazed around from his high vantage point and spotted Hoseok’s cute house nestled near some neatly trimmed trees and bushes. 

It was a nice warm looking house which looked very inviting and Hyungwon had visited just twice before, last year. 

He wondered if Hoseok had taken him to meet Hyunwoo back then itself, would he have… _Imprinted_ on Hyungwon then as well? And what if he hadn’t met Hyunwoo the current day? What then?!

What the hell did that word even mean?!

Hoseok had some _serious_ explaining to do. 

Well, after he talked to the cutie who’d literally fallen for him, on his knees that too, and asked him if all this was _really_ what Hyungwon thought it was.

So far he’d only got that the guy was already _extremely_ serious about him and they’d literally just met some fifteen odd minutes ago. 

So Hyungwon supposed that meant the guy had fallen for him _big time_ , a major case of love at first sight. But what Hoseok had said had been quite intense.

He’d used words like _protect_ and _love_ and _will always be there for you_ and this wasn’t even freaking out Hyungwon! In fact, Hyungwon was freaking about _why_ none of it was freaking him out!

Maybe his brain had shut down and he was just floating through the strangeness of things, because his mind seemed to have refused to process further.

The guys and Hoseok gently lowered the two of them to the ground, in the middle of a clearing which was circled by big wooden logs, which were carved and cleaned to look like those monolithic benches, only they were made of wood.

Immediately the cutie was by his side and holding his hand again, with their fingers intertwined. His thumb made soothing circles on the back of Hyungwon’s hand. Trying to get him to relax, he supposed.

 _And_ it was _working_?!

He turned his head to the side and the cutie was already looking at him, regarding him with such fondness that Hyungwon wanted to squeal!

“Hi. I’m Son Hyunwoo.” The cutie said in a deep voice and Hyungwon actually sighed dreamily.

God, he was usually better than this, way smoother _and_ good at hiding how he felt.

But these were _not_ usual circumstances because somehow his crush at first sight had already proclaimed his undying love for him.. 

“Hey….” Hyungwon sighed again, getting lost in those sparkling eyes and the cutie chuckled. _Aww.._ He had such nice chubby cheeks that Hyungwon wanted to pinch softly as he made cooing noises at him as if he were a baby.. not a grown man.

Hyungwon had officially gone insane. 

“Nice to meet you, Hyungwon. Couldn’t say that earlier in the garage.” Hyunwoo smiled sheepishly - _adorably! -_ and gave his hand a small squeeze. Warmth spread from his palm to his chest. Ugh… was Hyungwon already in too deep?

 _God,_ and his name sounded wonderful when Hyunwoo said it. He rolled the ‘won’ beautifully with his tongue and it sounded.. _musical..?_

Hyungwon was being too obvious but it wasn’t like the other was hiding his feelings either.

“So, uh.. let me get this.. s-straight..” Yup, there went his cool, with that stutter it was gone with the wind...

Hyunwoo nodded for him to continue, smiling at him encouragingly as he took his other hand in his own as well, as he completely turned his body to face Hyungwon.

That move had the guys around him hooting again and Hyungwon finally rolled his eyes at that. The hell was up with those nutcases… Why couldn’t they fucking put on some clothes?! Did they have _no shame?!_

 _“Yeah, that’s our leader! He finally Imprinted! I can’t believe it, man!”_ And _“Yeah, Hyunwoo hyung! Get your man!”_ were mainly what those cheers consisted of and Hyungwon blushed as he met Hyunwoo's eyes.

“You.. uh.. like me? But we just met…” He trailed off and bit his bottom lip.

Hyunwoo smiled at him warmly as he squeezed his hands again.

“I know. But I do like you. _A lot_. I can’t even begin to explain what all this means to me.. whatever you’re seeing… The Elders will explain it to you at the Ceremony soon..”

_‘Ceremony?! What the fuck?! Are we gonna get married?! We_ just _met?! Damn, these Quileutes are fast..’_

“C-Ceremony..?!” Hyungwon hiccuped and at that point he was beyond cursing himself for his then-hopelessly-lost cool composure.

_‘Whoa.. I like fast and direct but this is too much..’_

“Uh.. yeah.. it’s uh.. to celebrate that I finally Imprinted on somebody…” Hyunwoo looked apologetic and sheepish, yet again, and Hyungwon felt the panic rearing its ugly head once more.

“Uh.. I.. What?!” Hyungwon was losing it then if he hadn’t before. He was _so sure_ he was lying on that garage floor right then, completely passed out, and probably drooling ‘cause his luck sucked.

“Hey! Hey! Don’t panic! Please.” Hyunwoo rubbed circles onto the back of his hands again and somehow it made the panic recede, at least a little bit.

It was at the back of his mind, not forefront anymore.

“Just.. I need to know one thing.” Hyunwoo flashed him an uncertain tight-lipped smile. “Are you.. interested in me? At least a little…?” 

Hyungwon quickly nodded and spoke fast. “I like you, too. Don’t worry. But this is all happening so fast and I’m freaking out about how I’m _not_ freaking out?!” He laughed nervously, almost a teeny bit hysterically, as his eyes flitted around.

That fucker Hoseok was nowhere to be seen and many middle-aged people, ajhummas and ajhussis were coming out of their cottages and houses, headed their way.. to the clearing and the large number of wooden benches surrounding it.

“Uh..”

Hyungwon glanced back at Hyunwoo as the other took a step closer, slightly lessening the distance between their bodies. It made Hyungwon’s heart race and the air around them crackle with electricity.

“That is normal. My cousin’s Imprint, Kihyun, he didn't freak out either. If you like the person who Imprinted on you even the slightest, you feel calm.. well, relatively calm, at the.. uh.. sudden and unusual occurrences around you.”

 _Well,_ at least _something_ made sense.

So his brain _hadn’t_ stopped processing emotions! 

“Oh, ok-kay.” Hyungwon flashed a watery smile. 

“It’ll be fine. You’ll find out what’s going on soon. Once the ceremony starts.”

“So uh.. does this ceremony happen for _every_ person.. who.. uh.. _Imprints_ on someone?” 

“No, actually. The guys just take the person and his Imprint for a little celebration and that’s it…”

 _Huh.._ Hyungwon narrowed his eyes a little.

“Then why…”

“It’s because I’m the Alpha of my.. pack..” Hyunwoo carefully observed his reaction, to see if it scared him or weirded him out at least a little. More like weirded him out _even more._

Hyungwon just nodded slowly, processing the new information he got.

“Alpha… pack…” He murmured as he kept his gaze aimed at the ground. ‘ _What_ were _they?! Wolves?!’_

“Uh.. I’m the leader of our group…”

“What group is this exactly? Are you a cult or something…?” Even as Hyungwon asked that, he knew that wasn’t the case.

Well, they weren’t the black-magic-practising cult anyway. Or the illegal-drugs-smuggling-and-trading kind either.

Hopefully.

“Your ‘group’… it doesn’t do anything _illegal_ , right?”

Hey, he _had_ to be sure. He didn’t want to associate himself with criminals, no matter how ethereal they looked and how gentlemanly they acted. 

“No! No! Nothing like that!” Hyunwoo chuckled and reassured him as Hyungwon could see that it was the truth in the older’s eyes. He sighed in relief and snorted at how his thoughts had gone.

Of course they weren’t doing anything illegal.

Hoseok looked like he wouldn’t hurt a fly… or even cheat on a test. But looks could be deceiving. He _had_ to at least ask for his peace of mind.

“So what do you do in your.. group?”

“Uh.. when I said Alpha of my pack.. what were your thoughts?” Hyunwoo was back to carefully inspecting his face again, trying to judge his reaction, as if bracing himself for any oncoming outbursts.

But Hyungwon just gulped and whispered as he locked eyes with the cutie, “Wolves…”

Hyunwoo grimaced and then schooled his expression back to a semi-pleasant one. “You’re closer to the truth than you think.” 

That’s all he said before they were surrounded by a _huge_ crowd of people, all of them smiling and looking at them expectantly. There were people of all ages. Even mothers had come out with tiny babies perched on their hips and small three-year-olds clutching their hands.

Hyunwoo lowered their hands and instead pulled Hyungwon gently to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist.

Hyungwon automatically snuggled in closer and felt protected and safe - for real and it was _so_ comforting that Hyungwon almost sighed loudly, for the umpteenth time - from whatever all this was.

Hyunwoo was there. He’d help him through whatever was going to happen.

Whether or not he knew anything else, he knew _that_ with certainty.

  
  


*

_Way too many_ people had come to congratulate Hyunwoo on finally Imprinting. 

They patted his back, ruffled his hair, blessed him, hifived him, fist bumped him and Hyunwoo looked the right amount of embarrassed and thrilled that someone would be if they finally got engaged or married to the love of their life.

To Hyungwon, it was kinda bizarre, like everything else that had gone down so far.. 

The only thing stopping him from rolling his eyes and walking away was Hyunwoo.

Some of the half-naked guys he had seen earlier had even gone down on one knee and kissed the back of his hand. So did some half-naked younger teens and _pre-teens.._ Even a few teenage _girls_ about Hyungwon’s age! 

At least _they_ were fully clothed, thank God.

All Hyungwon could do was shoot them all a strained smile while his brain screamed at him to figure out just what the fuck this whole damn deal was! 

Apparently he was some “wolf’s mate”.. or something. It made no sense to him because neither he nor Hyunwoo was a wolf…

Well, _he_ wasn’t one anyway. He didn’t know about Hyunwoo.

Like, he _looked_ human. Yes, he looked quite well-built underneath that red flannel shirt of his, though not overly muscular, _and_ was _smoking hot_ and fucking adorable with his chubby cheeks and baby face, but.. _pack? Wolves? Nah… Right?_

If Hyungwon had been some random girl, he would be thrilled that some super hot, super cute, _utterly completely ethereal_ guy had professed his undying love for him in such an old school, gentlemanly manner. 

Like who even went on their knees anymore? Not even guys who asked their girlfriends to marry them did it anymore.. 

As a romantic, Hyungwon felt chivalry and old school courting was pretty much dead in the present times. 

But Hyunwoo had done it. He had courted _Hyungwon_ ! Hyungwon _should be_ flying but he wasn’t…? Hell, he didn’t even know how he felt.

He just knew that he was just trying not to freak out about how _fast_ everything was happening. He _just met_ the guy about half an hour ago!!! 

People were acting as if they were newly married instead! 

And it was driving Hyungwon insane.

Eventually the crowd cleared a little. 

More like they all took some steps back and Hyungwon felt like he could finally relax a little. People were still staring at him like he was some rare painting in a museum or like he was some alien. He wasn’t sure which. 

He felt Hyunwoo gently squeeze his waist and he tore his eyes from the crowd of random people, most of whom had addressed Hyunwoo as a relative one way or another.

Hyungwon had never seen such a large joint family before. Not even in the 100th birthday party of his great-grandmother back when she had still been alive. And that was supposed to be his family’s _biggest_ reunion!

He looked at Hyunwoo, question in his gaze, and the guy smiled at him fondly as he caressed his cheek with the back of his fingers. Hyungwon felt his face heat up and warmth spread all the way from his face to the tip of his toes before settling in his heart. He closed his eyes automatically to enjoy the feeling. 

The ethereal being was only barely touching him but he was feeling like he was on cloud nine. 

His mind briefly wondered just how much more he’d feel if Hyunwoo kissed him with his plump cherry-like lips, how he’d feel if those lips travelled to other places of his body…

Before he could dwell more on those thoughts, Hyunwoo’s fingers left his cheek. 

His eyes snapped open and he cheeks immediately felt like they’d caught flames. 

Shit.. what was he thinking?! He barely knew the guy… He ducked his head down, avoiding Hyunwoo’s gaze.

He felt gentle fingers touching his hot skin, below his chin. He looked up and met Hyunwoo’s kind eyes. An electric jolt went through him and he jerked back, Hyunwoo’s arm leaving his waist.

He covered his face with his hand, waves of shyness going through him.

He wasn’t the bold type.. but he definitely wasn’t shy either.

But this guy had the sweetest face he had ever seen, the kindest eyes which had ever looked into his own and the sharpest gaze that seemed to look through his very soul.

He’d never met such a guy in his life before.

He felt arms wrap around his waist and removed his hand from his eyes. Hyunwoo was giving him that heartwarming smile again and Hyungwon melted in his embrace, so warm and safe.

He definitely forgot about all those people _still_ watching them, watching _him,_ seeing their every move. They didn’t matter.

 _Only_ Hyunwoo did.

“Wanna head to the creek? I’m sure you have lots of questions and have a lot going on in your mind,” a deep honeyed voice went through his ear and a shiver travelled down his spine. Hyunwoo’s arms around him tightened as he met his eyes.

“The ceremony..?” His voice came out small as he gazed into deep _hazel_ eyes. They weren’t totally brown at all but something like dark honey. He could see it clearly now while they were out in the open where there was no shade or shadows.

“It’s tomorrow mostly. They have to prepare because I’m the Alpha..” He chuckled and Hyungwon decided he liked how his laugh sounded. Another deep and warm sound. 

“Okay. We can go.” He smiled and the cutie hugged him close to his warm body again, this time Hyungwon returning the embrace, wrapping his arms around Hyunwoo’s warm strong body, and resting his head on the Alpha’s shoulder. 

Hyunwoo had some _serious_ broad-shoulders-narrow-waist thing going on and damn Hyungwon for finding that totally sizzling hot. 

But he figured he _could_ lust behind this guy who seemed to be something like a soulmate to him. ‘Seemed’ being the keyword here.

He really was falling for this ethereal unknown guy, huh.. 

Oh well, at least it wasn’t one sided and the guy seemed to be in it for the long haul.

With Hyunwoo it was just a fast paced, instant commitment kinda thing. 

With Hyungwon’s luck, he could’ve ended up in the worst possible relationship ever, instead of in the arms of his mind blowingly handsome protective hunk.

He’d definitely one upped himself this time.

Looks like Lady Luck was on his side after all.

  
  
  



End file.
